


Voracity

by Lyra_Kero



Series: VLD: Alt Canon (+rewrite project) [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Planet, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Flirting, Awkward pet names, Canon-Typical Violence, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Korean Keith (Voltron), Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Nightmare Fuel, Not So Subtle Pining, Pining Keith/Lance (Voltron), Season/Series 03, Weird Aliens, Whose ready for some good old fashioned, most of it anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 01:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20144965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyra_Kero/pseuds/Lyra_Kero
Summary: On the planet Corium, the alien race look like the stuff of nightmares, but are friendly. Enough so that the paladins all visit to try and have them join the coalition.But with a grand feast ahead, and the promise of a rare delicacy, the team might find out it's not just the outside that's nightmarish about these aliens.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And thus, with this, I complete what will help start what I like to call "Kero is going to rewrite Voltron because the writers clearly had no idea what to do with literally ALL OF SPACE as a setting".
> 
> Most things will be kept the same. Most of these are episodes we could have had. Should have had.  
I will right wrongs, and triumph over evil. Or something like that.
> 
> When I get the time to write more.

Corium was a pretty nice little planet. It wasn’t too hot, not too cold. The skies were a soft lavender color, the sun a dull blue in the sky. The team were pleasantly surprised, though Lance lamented that they didn’t seem to have much water.

Less pleasant, however, was when Allura smiled and greeted the xetyal, the dominant race of the planet whom they had contacted to speak about joining the coalition, and their attention was drawn to… something out of a horror movie.

A group of five xetyals were before them and the human paladins all cringed, fight or flight kicking in. The alien’s bodies were black, shiny like latex. At least three of them had more… effeminate curves and… hair? At the back of their heads looked like ponytails or pigtails. One short and blue, pulled in a stubby ponytail that kind of just fanned out behind her head. Another had long purple hair (it looked more like fiber-optics, the longer they stared honestly) in two pigtails. The last one had a green ponytail, falling down to her shoulders. The other two xetyals were more masculine with no hair.

Now, if that was all, they might not be so bad. A bit strange, but okay. No, it was their faces. Each xetyal had the same black, blank spaces where there should be eyes, surrounded by silver rings. They didn’t seem to blink (could they blink? Was that a thing?) and just stared as their leader, the xetyal with purple hair, spoke with Allura. Ah, yes. And their mouths. Their mouths looked like zippers.

Basically, the xetyals looked like walking, talking gimp suits. Nope. Not a fan.

The others were pulled from their shock and horror when Allura turned, smiling softly to them. “Everyone,” she said, standing to one side, leaving them open to the xetyal’s full, undivided, unblinking and unholy attention. “This is Resha.” the xetyal smiled, bowing to the group.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Paladins of Voltron.” she spoke, her voice soft but… off? There was a reverb of a squeak under her words. She straightened back up, silver mouth pulled back in a wide, uncanny smile. “The elders will be so very pleased as well. We have prepared a feast to welcome you all to our home.”

Hunk managed to relax slightly, “Feast?” he asked, warily. “As in… food?”

Another unsettling thing about xetyals? Their laugh. It sounded like squeaky boots as the group laughed. The sound ranged from low and baritone to a high pitched, grating noise. Still, definitely, one hundred percent not fans.

“Yes, dear Yellow Paladin,” one of the male xetyals spoke, his voice low and booming, “We will feed you and your group and celebrate your arrival.”

“And tomorrow,” the blue haired xetyal seemed to have been the squeak box, “we will host another grand feast.”

“Another feast?” Pidge raised her eyebrow. “We’re not _that_ special, are we?”

“Oh!” the blue xetyal giggled her squeaky pitch, “You have found us in the middle of our harvest festival! We feast all week!” she clapped her hands together. “Feasts and music and games for our young!” She leaned forward, “I am sure you all will love it!”

At that, Pidge noticed another thing about the xetyals that made them… less creepy. Two small, triangular protrusions were on top of each of their heads, sticking out away from each other. As the blue xetyal straightened back up she leaned over to the others and whispered. “They have tiny kitty ears.”

“What?” Lance blinked, looking down to her. “Kitty ears?”  
“On their head.” Pidge nodded her head towards the group and everyone looked, seeing them as well.

“I think those are supposed to be horns,” Keith murmured, narrowing his eyes. “Not ears.”

“It’s less terrifying if they’re ears.” Hunk said, “Let’s call them ears.”

“Paladins,” Resha spoke again, “if you all will follow me, I will lead you back to town.” she turned and the rest of the xetyals took a step back, allowing her to step forward. They turned their unblinking gazes back towards the paladins, who looked to one another and followed.

If five weird, creepy latex figures were bad, an entire town is worse. It only helped a bit that everyone was being friendly. The small, children xetyals were a bit more creepy than they needed to be, though. Just… nothing that small needed to look _that fucking creepy._

They were presently surrounding Pidge, though, excitedly talking and tugging on her arms. Lance did not envy her as she was dragged to a booth.

He jumped when a new voice spoke close to him. He spun around, swallowing the scream as a xetyal was standing close to him. She had bright blonde hair tangled in a braid and did we mention that she was standing _really close_?  
“Hello, there.” she cooed, her voice soft and lilting. “You must be the blue paladin.”

“Uh, red. Actually.” Lance laughed nervously. “Long story.”

“But you’re wearing blue armor.” Blondie seemed to pout, “I’ve always wanted to speak with the blue paladin. It’s my favorite color.”

“Well, Allura’s the blue paladin, now. So… you can talk with her?”

Blondie laughed, squeaky and charming. “But I would much rather talk with you.”

Oh. _Ooooooh, no no no no no._ “That’s… I’m…” Lance took a step back, holding his hands up. “I’m flattered. Really.” Blondie took a step closer and he took another back. “But, I’m… spoken for.”

“Oh?” her voice was teasing, “and to whom does the blue paladin’s heart belong to?”

Lance glanced over his shoulder. He needed Hunk to try and save him. Or Pidge or Allura or…

Or Keith was standing there, giving him an odd look.

“Keith!” Lance said, a bit too loud. He turned back to the xetyal. “It’s… it’s Keith.”

“What?” the Cuban jumped and looked over, seeing Keith standing behind him now. “Keith what?”

“Keith, babe,” Lance smiled, wrapping his arm around his waist, pulling him close. “I was just telling, uh…” he looked to the alien, “I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”

“Alra.” Blondie said, her fingers laced together in front of her.

“Alra. Great name, suits you!” Lance smiled, before looking back to Keith, whose face had blossomed into a vibrant red color. “I was just telling Alra here that I’m spoken for.”

“Y-you are?” Keith blinked, eyebrows pinched together. Lance tightened his grip slightly and Keith seemed to pick up the hint. “Oh! Yes!” He laughed, wrapping his arm around Lance in turn. “Yes, Lance… we’re dating.” He smiled. “I just like to tease him.”

“Is that so?” Alra tilted her head to the side.

“Yep! He gets… very cute when I tease him.” Keith laughed, Lance was pleased that it didn’t sound as forced as he was afraid it would be. But it was still pretty forced. “You know I… like to tease you. Darling.”

Lance smiled, laughing as his own face heated up. “He’s such a joker.” he said, turning back towards Alra. “But that’s what I like about him!”

“You two are so good together.” Alra purred, smiling to them. Lance nodded, pulling his arm back and blindly reached for Keith’s hand, squeezing it tight. “You would make a wonderful pair!”

“We are a pair!” Lance said, smiling as Keith nodded next to him.

“Yep! A… pair of … love... birds…” he glanced over to Lance before back to the alien in front of them.

Alra giggled again. “I shall leave you be.” she gave a small wave before turning and walking away.

The two boys stood there, smiling and watching her before Keith tugged at Lance’s hand, pulling him closer and lowering his voice into a hiss. “What the _hell_ was that for?”

“Dude! She was trying to flirt with me!” Lance whispered back. “I panicked and you were the first person I saw! So I told her I was dating you!”

“Lance, _we’re not dating_!”

“I know!” the taller boy groaned, rubbing his face. “It’s fine. It got her off my back, so we must have been… somewhat convincing.”

“Yeah.” Keith narrowed his eyes, “Only now most of the people here have seen us as a couple, _heard _us say we’re a couple and Alra is probably going to tell all of her friends we’re a couple.”

“Oh.” Shit, Lance… Lance did not think that though. “Shit.”

“Yeah. Shit.” the Korean boy sighed. “It’s fine.”

“Huh?” Lance looked back over to him.

“It’s fine. We just… have to do this for a couple days. Today, then tomorrow. And that’s only for as long as we’re here. So like probably not even a full twenty-four hours?”

“You’re… being awfully nice about this.” the taller boy said, slowly. “I would have thought you wouldn’t be okay with this.”

“Lance, I am absolutely _not _okay with any of this.” Keith growled, “But you’re not the only one getting hit on and the things I’m being propositioned for are things I wouldn’t wish the visual of on _Zarkon himself_.”

That sentence alone made Lance shudder. “Fair enough.”

“Anyway, I’m going to go find Allura.”

“Yeah. I’m gonna go grab Hunk and try and rescue Pidge.”

The two boys looked to one another, not moving for a moment before they turned and walked in opposite directions - only to yelp and get pulled back together by their still joined hands.

The two blushed, quickly letting go of each other and muttered an apology before hurrying apart once more. Each boy aware of how cold their hands now felt.

The sun had begun to set when the paladins were gathered together with the rest of the population of xetyal. Everyone was gathered around, sitting on the ground as large bowls of different kinds of fruit and vegetables sat before them. At least, Lance assumed they were fruits and vegetables. They kind of looked like what fruit and veggies would look like on an alien planet. Apart from that the smell of meat cooking in the many small fire pits around them filled the air, and there were a few dozen xetyals walking along filling glasses with some kind of neon green liquid.

Around them, the aliens chatted with one another, laughing squeakily and enjoying themselves. Of course, the news of the “red and blue paladin’s romance” had reached the rest of the team and now Lance and Keith had to quickly and quietly explain why they were suddenly, randomly dating like a bad teenage soap opera (as Pidge described it afterwards).  
“The xetyal are a peaceful race.” Allura said, sighing as she shook her head. “You can’t judge them by their appearances, Lance.”  
“No, but I can be put off by them.” the Cuban mumbled. “You can’t tell me you don’t think they’re freaky.”  
The princess frowned, glancing around at the mass of aliens around them, before turning back towards Lance. “I’ll admit, they do… unsettle me a little.” she said softly.

Everything seemed to settle and quiet down before Lance could say anything in response, causing the paladins to look up as one xetyal rose, her hair long and red, pulled over her shoulder and decorated with bands, whom they were introduced to as Yashii, their elder. She raised her hands and the rest of the aliens mimicked her. After a moment, the paladins did the same.

“Oh, great Akgen! You have blessed our lives and homes,” she spoke, her voice booming and strong. “You have graced us with a plentiful harvest and wonderful hunts! You have brought us great luck and fortune and health! You continue to feed us and we will continue to honor you.” She brought her hands together, the group following along, and lowered her head. “Thank you for all of your love and grace and your continued blessings.”

“Thank you for all of your love and grace!” was the chorus around the paladins.

Yashii lowered her hands, smiling brightly. “Let the feast commence!”

Allura turned to the alien next to them, smiling as she took the offered plate filled high with food. “Thank you,” she said, “Who is Akgen?”

“Akgen is our god.” the xetyal explained, his voice warbling slightly. “He blesses us in all aspects of life. Harvest, hunt, luck and fortune.”

“Yes!” the female next to him spoke up, leaning around him, her bright pink hair pulled into small pigtails. “It is his great blessing that we’re lucky to have our rarest feast tomorrow!”

“And, what’s your _rarest feast_?” Keith asked, looking over, carefully picking up one of the fruits, a weird, bumpy purple fruit that smelled like oranges and tasted like a piña colada once he took a bite.

“Spleef!” both she and the male xetyal spoke at the same time, both sounding excited.

“Uh… Spleef?” Lance raised an eyebrow, “What… what’s spleef?”

“Spleef,” Yashii was before them. She smiled down to the paladins, “is a creature that we rarely can find. They hide out there and are wise to our traps.” she sat down, the other two xetyal making room for her. “It can take many years before we can find these creatures. But their meat is the juiciest, most delicious of all.”

“Aren’t you worried that, maybe it’s hard to find them because they’re going extinct?” Pidge asked, frowning as she looked over to them. “For all you know, maybe this last beast you caught was the last of its kind?”

Yashii and the other two xetyal laughed. “No, Spleef are plentiful.” the elder explained. “They just hide very well. We’ve only been able to feast on them a small handful of times. It’s been many moons since we’ve last been able to feast on them.”

“Spleef meat is the best.” the pink haired one spoke up, holding up some meat to her mouth, and the paladins watched in awe and horror (mostly horror) as her teeth tore through it. A look around showed that most the xetyal were tearing into the meats before them without much grace or tact.

The group looked at each other, before quietly agreeing that they’d pass on eating the meat as well. Seeing the red juices running down the xetyals’ chins was not the best image. The fact that they could hear what sounded like even the bones being crunched on made them lose their appetites even more.

“Are you not hungry?” Yashii asked, black tongue coming out to lick along her lips. “Perhaps you would like to rest. We will have a marvelous day tomorrow.”

“Uh, yes.” Allura said, gently setting her plate down. “We’d like very much to rest.”

“Of course.” the elder nodded, before turning to the two who had been talking with them before. “Assei, Julm, would you kindly show the paladins to their rooms?”

“Of course, elder.” the two aliens stood, Assei turning as Julm brushed her hands clean. “Please follow us, paladins.”

“I’m sorry we weren’t able to speak more of the coalition.” Allura said, as she stood along with the rest of the group. “Perhaps we’ll be able to speak more on the matter tomorrow.”

“To tomorrow.” Yashii said, before raising her glass to the group. “To Spleef!”

Around them, the xetyal cheered, repeating the cry of “to Spleef!”

“Uh, yeah.” Lance said, grinning, “to… Spleef.”

They followed the two away from the feast, passing by xetyal who waved to them, raising their glasses to them. Lance saw Alra with a group, and reached out for Keith’s hand when her head turned towards them. She smiled, waving and the two paladins smiled, waving back.

“Enjoy your rest, paladins!” she called to them as they passed. 

“Yeah,” Keith said, “enjoy your feast!”

The group was lead into one of the larger buildings, Julm turning to look at them as she spoke. “This place is reserved for guests of honor.” she said, “You shall have your privacies here.”

“This is very kind of you.” Allura said, smiling. “Thank you for your generosity.”

“It’s our pleasure!” Assei said, smiling as well as he looked back to them. “You all have come all this way, we would love to keep you comfortable.”

“Comfortable and happy!” Julm giggled, her voice squeaking and bouncing off the walls.

They stopped in front of a black curtain and pulled it back to reveal a modestly sized room. “Princess, this will be your room.” Assei said, bowing. “We hope it will be to your liking.”

“Oh, thank you. It’s lovely.” the princess stepped forward. “Good night.”

Hunk’s room was next, a few rooms down, followed by Pidge’s farther from that. Finally, Lance and Keith followed alone after the two before they stopped a good, far distance from even Pidge’s room. “I thought we’d never stop walking.” Lance grumbled. “So, whose room is this?”

“Yours.” Julm said, smiling cheerfully. “You and the red paladin will sleep here.”

“What?!” both boys blushed deeply, eyes widening.

“You two are together.” Assei explained, his smile just as wide as Julm’s, “We would not be so rude as to separate you two.”

“We’ve kept your privacy in mind, and kept you a farther distance from the others, so you won’t disturb them.” Julm added, and if she could she’d probably have winked at the two. The paladins only blushed deeper as the stammered and stumbled over their words.

“The room is nice,” Assei said, pulling back the curtain. It was slightly bigger than the others. And as Lance and Keith looked inside, they confirmed that there was, indeed, one bed. A large bed, but still. One. Singular. “If you do not like it, we can take you to a different one.”

“We want you two to be happy and joyful.” Julm giggled, “Tonight is a night lovers should not be apart.”

“R-right, yeah, no it’s… it’s fine!” Lance stepped into the room and looked around. “It’s good! Don’t you think, babe?”

“Yeah… yeah, it’s uh, it’s a nice room.” Keith followed him in, “I think we’ll stay here. Thanks.”

“Please enjoy yourselves.” Julm giggled out before bowing. “Good night, paladins.”

The curtain closed and the two were left alone in their room. They shared a look before examining the room. Apart from the bed, there were two small tables on either side of it, a closet that stood on the opposite wall, and a large, full length mirror beside it. Through an opening was what looked like a bathroom, but as Lance thought about how the xetyals all looked like they were covered in latex that did not have any openings or anything, he wasn’t sure how they actually bathed. He found the more he tried to think about it, the more creeped out he became, so he quickly dropped the line of thought.

He made his way back into the main part of the bedroom and froze, seeing Keith had already taken off the hard pieces of armor and was currently removing the black flight suit they wore underneath. He yelped and covered his eyes, turning around. “What are you doing?!”

“Changing for bed?” Keith raised an eyebrow, looking over to him. “I’m not sleeping in this thing.”

“So you’re just going to sleep in nothing?”

“I’m wearing boxers. And a tank top.” he rolled his eyes. “I don’t go commando under all this, Lance.”

That… was a fair point. The Cuban turned, slowly, uncovering his eyes as Keith stepped out of the rest of his gear. As he’d said, he was wearing a black tank top and a pair of black striped red boxers. And black socks. Socks that he didn’t remove as he finished putting his armor away and climbed into bed. “You sleep with your socks on?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.

“My feet get cold.” the Korean grumbled, his cheeks taking on a pink tint as he burrowed himself under the blanket. “At least the sheets are normal. They feel thin, though.” He squirmed a bit, tossing slightly before he seemed to settle into a comfortable position.

Lance stared at him, causing Keith to grunt after a while and open his eyes. “Are you getting in or not?” he asked.

“What?” the taller boy blinked, shaking his head. “No, we… are we actually going to share the bed?” he pointed over his shoulder. “I can, like, sleep in the tub in there. If you’d rather have the bed to yourself.”

“There aren’t any other blankets.” Keith grumbled, “I checked the closet, it’s empty. These are all we got.” Lance’s shoulders slumped a bit. “Besides, I’m not going to make you sleep in the tub. Just… get over here.”

Lance stared just a moment longer before he carefully began to pull off his own armor. “Don’t look,” he grumbled, blushing slightly.  
“Go change in the bathroom if you’re that self conscious.” Keith grumbled, but rolled over so his back was facing Lance.

Once Lance was down to his underwear, he set his gear beside Keith’s and carefully got into bed as well. He frowned, shuffling as he pulled the blanket up around his shoulders. “You weren’t kidding,” he grumbled, “these sheets are way too thin.”

“This kind of sucks.” Keith grumbled, his body curling slightly into a ball.

The two laid in bed, keeping an arm’s length between them. They’d shift slightly, squirm and roll to try and get comfortable. After a while, Lance groaned and flopped onto his back. “Dude, this isn’t going to work.” he turned, watching as Keith rolled over to face him. “This room is fucking cold.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to keep rubber at this temperature.” the shorter boy mumbled. “This must just be a shit room.”

Lance moved first, carefully scooting to bridge the gap between them. “Just… come over here. We can keep each other warm.” He watched as Keith’s brain worked out his words and saw the blush creep over his face.

“W-what?” the shorter boy remained where he was, staring as he gripped the sheets just a bit tighter.

“If we try and fall asleep like this, we’ll just wake up a dozen times. Just… you know, come a little closer? We can share some body heat.” As he saw Keith’s blush darken, Lance’s face began to burn. “I don’t mean it like that!”

“L-like that what?!” Keith sat up a bit, his voice cracking. “What are you thinking?”

“What are _you_ thinking?!” Lance shot back, sitting up as well.

“I-I’m not thinking anything!” the shorter boy’s eyes began to look around the room, unable to stare at Lance.

“Good! Because I’m not thinking anything, either!” he Cuban crossed his arms, looking away as well.

“Great!”

“_Great_!”

The two sat in bed like that, refusing to look at one another. Lance was the first to break, carefully glancing over and saw Keith shiver slightly. He bit the inside of his cheek before he sighed, “Come on, dude.” he muttered, moving to lay back down. “Let’s just… go to sleep.” He closed his eyes and began to try and get comfortable. It took awhile but he soon felt Keith slowly move to lay down as well. The bed around him shifted and he felt something warm press closer to him. He opened his eyes, seeing the back of Keith’s head just inches in front of him.  
“Is this okay?” Keith asked quietly, and Lance could see just the tips of his ears turning red.

“Yeah.” he breathed, closing his eyes once more. “S’fine.” They laid together in silence before he mumbled, “G’night.”

Keith was quiet and Lance thought he might have managed to fall asleep, before he heard to barely audible “night” in response.

If the two pressed closer together while they slept, if Lance’s arm came around Keith’s waist to pull him flush, neither would comment on it in the morning. They’d just blame it on the chill of the room.

In her own room, Pidge sat awake, fussing with the small computer she kept on her at all times. She frowned as the term “spleef” came up with no results.  
“It’s weird,” she muttered, Hunk having his comlink open and the two chatting. “I can’t find anything about this spleef creature.”

“They did say it’s a rare creature.” Hunk’s voice came back, “Maybe no one but the xetyals have ever seen them before?”

“But they’ve never recorded anything about them.” Pidge narrowed her eyes. “Nothing. Nothing about where they live, what they eat. How to capture them. Things you’d expect to find about a creature, there’s just nothing.” she sighed, closing her eyes. “I can find information on the fruit they fed us, the planet and its people. But nothing about spleef.”

Hunk was quiet for a bit, and Pidge wondered if he’d fallen asleep while she’d been talking. “Maybe it’s not called spleef?” he said after a moment. “I mean, on Earth we eat deer meat, but we call it venison. Maybe spleef is just what they call the meat of the animal?”

“Hunk, that’s brilliant!” she said, smiling brightly, before it dropped, “But, I can’t even find anything about what spleef might be.”  
“Maybe the Alteans called it something else?” the yellow paladin offered.

“Maybe.” Pidge shifted, climbing off her bed and headed for the door. “I’ll go ask Allura.”

“She’s probably asleep by now.” Hunk said, and Pidge scoffed.

“I’m not, you’re not. Keith and Lance are probably wide awake. I don’t think anyone can sleep in these rooms. They’re too cold.” She stepped out into the hall. “Come on, I’ll meet you at your door and we can go ask Allura together.”

“Alright.” Hunk groaned. “Just… poke your head in when you get to my room.”

“I don’t even remember what room was yours, honestly.” Pidge admitted. “I think it was ten rooms between us?” she glanced around, counting the rooms they passed. “I get wanting to give us privacy but this is really too much.” She paused, turning around to look behind her.

“I’m so ready to get back on the castle.” Hunk’s voice spoke to her, “Don’t get me wrong, this place is nice, but I’ll be happy once I don’t have to see these guys again.”

“Hunk,” Pidge’s voice dropped to a whisper, “I think I heard something.”

“_Don’t say that!_” the yellow paladin hissed. “Maybe it’s Lance? Or Keith? One of them just walking around?”

“I don’t know,” the green paladin narrowed her eyes, “I can barely see out here. Even with my visor’s night vision.”

“Just hurry up and come over here.” Hunk said, “Maybe it’s nothing.”

“You just hope it’s nothing.” Pidge turned, heading back down the hall.

Hunk heard Pidge yelp. “Pidge?” he asked, “Pidge are you alright?”  
The only response he got was grunts, the sound of movement and a sickening _thunk_ followed by something falling and being dragged away. “_Pidge?!_”

He groaned and ran out of his room, heading towards Allura’s. Of course they couldn’t have a nice, normal planet visit and not be attacked by some horrible creatures.

He burst into the room, startling Allura who had been pulling her hair out of the bun she kept it in under her helmet. “Allura! I think a spleef attacked Pidge!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge is missing and the strange spleef creature seems to be hunting the remaining paladins one by one...

Hunk and Allura raced down the hall, each armed with their bayards. “Pidge?!” Hunk cried out, looking for any sign of their friend. Apart from her helmet that they’d stumbled across earlier, however, Pidge was nowhere to be found.

“Where are Lance and Keith?” Allura asked, frowning as she opened yet another empty room.  
“I don’t know,” the yellow paladin frowned, “they were still with Pidge and the other xetyals when I went into my room.” He pulled back another curtain, panic starting to bubble over. “What if they’re gone too? What if the spleef attacked them first and then went after Pidge?! What if it’s going to come after us next?!”

“Hunk, relax!” Allura frowned as she turned to look at him. “We’ll find the others. You have to calm down.”

“Right, right.” Hunk sighed, taking a deep breath. “We’ll find them. Probably in the maw of some horrifying creature…” he kept walking, opening curtain after curtain before giving a cry of joy. “Lance!”

Allura hurried over, sighing in relief when she saw Lance laying in bed, curled up under the blankets. “Lance, wake up!” the Cuban boy gruffed, squirming slightly. “Lance!”

When Keith sat up, turning to glare at them, both Hunk and Allura froze, mouths agape. “God, _shut up_!” he hissed. “I’m trying to sleep!”  
“Keif?” Lance grumbled, arm tugging at him. “Why’re you awake?” he squirmed, rolling over and blinked. “Hunk? ‘llura?” 

“Uh… are we interrupting something?” Hunk asked, raising an eyebrow as Allura squeaked and quickly turned her head away, face turning pink.

Both Lance and Keith stared, sleep and confusion plain on their faces. They shared a look, taking in each others slight disheveled appearance from the countless tossing and turning they’d done before finally falling asleep. How Keith’s hair looked wild like a hand had been run through it too many times. How Lance’s hair stuck up in different places. How Lance was shirtless and had his arm tight around Keith’s waist…

They yelled and threw themselves apart, blushing deeply, Lance pushing at Keith in the process. “This isn’t what it looks like!” he screamed, though winced as his shove, combined with Keith already moving away, resulted in him pushing Keith _off_ the bed. “It’s just cold in here!”

“Why are you two sharing a room?” Allura asked, refusing to look at the two.

“The xetyals told us we were sharing a room!” Keith said, grumbling as he climbed back up and sat down on the bed, glaring at Lance, “Since everyone on this planet thinks we’re dating. The… pink haired one said that couples shouldn’t be apart. Or something.”

“We couldn’t tell her that we didn’t want to sleep in the same room!”

“Well, you could,” Hunk pointed out. “It’s not like it was important to the mission for you two to pretend to be dating.”

“We were in too deep!” Lance cried, throwing his hands into the air. “We were committed!”

“So why are you two in the same bed?” Allura carefully looked over, her face still red.

“Well, uh,” both boys blushed, glancing at one another then looked away. Keith was the one who spoke up, “There’s only one bed.”

“Yes…” Hunk smirked, crossing his arms as he watched his friends squirm under the simple question.

“And this room is super cold,” Lance added, tapping his fingers against his thigh.

“And there weren’t any spare sheets.” the Korean pointed to the closet. “So, we… just shared the bed?”

“And cuddled.” Hunk added on, a cheshire grin spreading wider across his face.

“_For warmth!_” the Cuban narrowed his eyes at his supposed best friend, crossing his arms.

“Guys, we can talk about this later.” Allura, bless her, finally changed the subject. “Pidge has gone missing.”

“What?!” both boys were up in a flash, throwing the blankets off the bed as they raced to get dressed.

“She was talking with me! She was coming by my room and we were gonna talk to Allura to see if we could figure out what spleef meat was.”

“I’ve never heard of spleef.” the princess admitted, frowning softly.

“We thought maybe it was called something else in Altean. But that’s not important anymore! We gotta find Pidge! It sounded like she got attacked by some creature! I think a spleef got her!”

“Hunk, how do you know a spleef got her if we don’t even know what a spleef is?” Lance asked, grunting as he finished getting on the flight suit and began putting on his armor. “For all we know, they might be vegetarians or something!”

Keith stumbled, tugging on his boots, “A moose can still attack someone under stress, Lance.” he muttered.

“A what?” Allura scrunched up her face, but the two paladins had finished changing and grabbed their bayards, rushing out of the room.

“Nevermind. Where are we going?” Lance asked.

“There was no sign of Pidge from where we came from.” Allura said, “And we’ve checked every room we’ve come across trying to find you two.”

“So the only place she could have gone is back this way.” Keith turned his head, looking down to hall. “Let’s go, guys.”

The group of four continued down the hallway, throwing open the curtains they passed, hoping to find Pidge somewhere. The only thing they found was a branching patch. The paladins looked down each hall before they turned to each other, agreeing they’d do better splitting up.

“Keep your comms open.” Keith said, tapping his helmet. “If you find Pidge, or something else, let us know and we’ll come to you.”

“Why are you putting me and Allura together?” Hunk asked, smirking. Keith narrowed his eyes, despite his cheeks turning pink.

“We’re already on this side,” the black paladin said, motioning to the right side of the path. “It makes sense.”

“We could easily just step over there, though.” Allura mused, tilting her head to the side.

“We don’t have time for this,” Lance groaned, “Keith and I are going down the right. You two go down the left!” With that, he turned and started marching down the hall. The three stared at him, gaping slightly.

“Damn, he took charge quick.” Hunk muttered, before he nudged Allura and started down the left path. Keith stood there a moment longer, before jumping when Lance yelled back for him and quickly raced after him, pushing away his blush.

Keith pushed open another empty room and frowned, “Have you noticed that most of these rooms barely have anything in them anymore?” he asked, noting that this room only held a small bed and a lamp sitting on the floor.

“This one over here is just empty.” Lance said, closing the curtain. “I guess these rooms don’t get used as much.”

“Why have such a huge building if you’re not going to furnish half the rooms?” the black paladin’s frown deepened as he and Lance continued their sweep.

“More than half,” Hunk’s voice broke through. “It’s like they’re only using the ones in the front of the building.”

“A lot of the rooms there were pretty empty too,” Allura added on. “I didn’t notice it before, since we were trying to find Pidge, but now I’m remembering that a lot of the rooms we checked barely had anything in them.”

“Why only have a few handfuls of rooms open?” Lance mused, checking another room.

“And spaced so far apart?” the princess hummed back.

“We can ask the xetyals after we find Pidge.” Keith grumbled, his back tingling with the thoughts that the line of questioning was giving him. 

Lance glanced over to Keith, turning off his comms, “So, why did you really pair us up and pair Hunk and Allura?”

Keith glanced over to him, reaching up to mute his own comms, “Honestly?” he asked, blushing faintly. “Hunk would tease either one of us to no end, and Allura would probably just start asking questions and it’d get really awkward.”

Lance grinned, barking out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s a good point.”

Down the other hall, Hunk and Allura had muted their own comms. “Do you buy that _there weren’t any other sheets_ line Keith tried?” Hunk asked, looking over to the princess.

“My room had spares in the closet.” Allura said, frowning as she continued to check rooms. 

“So did mine.” the yellow paladin closed another curtain. “And I’m sure Pidge’s did too.”

“Why would Keith lie about there not being extra sheets though?” Allura turned to look at the yellow paladin. “It seems pretty pointless and unnecessary.”

Hunk smirked, “Unless you want to _cuddle for warmth_.” he wiggled his eyebrows, but Allura only pouted more.

“Why would he want to do that?” she asked, causing Hunk to sigh.

“Mainly for the cuddling, Allura.” he stared as the princess blinked.

“Oh.” Three… two… one… “Oh!” she blushed, and began to grin. “You don’t think…”

“Keith’s pining harder than a forest? I do.” Hunk nodded, turning to continue walking, ignoring Allura’s confused response. “He stares at Lance when he thinks Lance isn’t looking. And he’s not. But I am.”

“But why not just ask Lance to cuddle with him?” Allura asked, following after him, “Wouldn’t that be easier?”

“This is Keith we’re talking about.” Hunk shrugged, “He probably doesn’t know how to actually ask for things like that. Plus it’s _Lance_ he wants those cuddles from.”

“I honestly find it hard to believe Keith has any kind of feelings for Lance.” the princess muttered, thinking about the two paladins and their interactions.

“Trust me, Allura. He hides it pretty well. You’d have to really pay attention to that sort of thing.” Hunk slowed down, frowning as he stared ahead. “Ah, beans.”

“What?” Allura turned her attention towards Hunk and saw the same thing. “Oh, dear.” She raised her hand, unmuting her comms. “Lance? Keith?”

“Copy, princess.” Lance’s voice cut through, “Did you find Pidge?”

“No,” Hunk spoke up, “another fork.”

“Perfect.” Keith mumbled.

“I’ll take the right path,” Allura said, stepping over, “Hunk, you go left.”

“What?” Hunk paled slightly, “You want to split up even more?”

“We’ll cover more ground this way,” the princess turned.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that there’s _another_ fork in the road? And that we seem to be going deeper than this building should allow us to?” the yellow paladin glanced around. “Plus that last room I checked barely looked like a room. Do you really want to split up and--” he looked back and whimpered, seeing Allura already walking down the hall.

“We’ll be fine,” she said, turning to wave at him. “I’ll keep talking to you, so you won’t be so alone!”

Hunk frowned, fidgeting slightly, before he began to head down the left path. “I have a bad feeling about this.” he mumbled.

They stopped checking the rooms. After Keith threw open a curtain and saw a boarded up wall and Lance said that there weren’t any indicators that they even tried to _make_ rooms farther down. It was the same on Allura and Hunk’s end.

“Guys, I don’t like this.” Hunk muttered, “It’s starting to get dark down here.”

“Same here,” Allura added, “We’ve definitely been walking too long to still be inside the building.”

Lance stopped and turned towards Keith, “Has anyone checked their maps?” he asked suddenly.

“Huh?” Hunk’s voice spoke out.

“Look, we’ve been walking down these halls for a while. Like Allura said, too long. Are we even sure we’re still in the building?”

“Lance, we haven’t really left the building.” the yellow paladin mumbled, though Keith was carefully pulling up a map for him and Lance to view.

“He’s right,” Keith said, eyes widening. “Our map shows that we’re at least fifty feet from where the building is.”

“What?!” Hunk’s voice grew panicked as Allura hummed, apparently examining her own map.

“But how are we so far from the building?” she asked, “We’ve clearly never left.”

Lance came over to Keith, staring at the map, frowning slightly. “Keith, how deep down into the ground are we?”

“Huh?”

“If they built it so the halls slowly declined down into the ground, it could give off the illusion that we’ve been walking on a flat surface.”

Keith blinked, looking over at Lance. “How…”

“I saw it in a movie, once.” the Cuban smirked, shrugging.

“However you did it, you’re right.” the black haired boy looked back to his map, pointing to where they were.

“Guys,” Allura’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper. “I think I heard something.”

“Don’t say that.” Hunk whined, “That’s what Pidge said before the Spleef attacked her.”

“I don’t see anything, though.” the princess continued on. “I just heard like… I’m not sure how to describe it.”

“Allura, be careful.” Lance said.

There was a gasp, and Hunk whimpered, “Allura?”

The other three listened as Allura grunted, fighting off whatever was near her. “Guys!” she grunted, “Guys, there’s two of them!” She yelled, and something hit something solid.

“Allura?!” the other three all cried out at the same time. Something scraped against the ground, before everything fell silent.

“Guys,” Hunk whispered, “Guys I think we should regroup.”

“Good idea,” Lance murmured, “Let’s all fall back and then go track down Allura.” he looked over to Keith, who was biting his lip. “If we hurry we might be able to find whatever took her and get her back.”

“Right.” he murmured, “Come on. Hunk, meet us back at where you and Allura split up.”

“Just, try not to take too long?” Hunk asked, already making his way back down the hall.

“Don’t worry, buddy.” Lance said, grinning, “We’ll be there in no time!”

The two had just made it back to where the four split into two when they heard Hunk yell, firing off a few shots from his bayard. “Hunk?!” Lance asked, he and Keith quickly running down the left path. “Hunk what’s going on?”

Hunk didn’t respond, still shooting. “_You_ took Allura!?” he called out. “Where is she?”

Lance and Keith raced down the hall, as Hunk and his comm went silent.

Lance and Keith reached the second fork that split Hunk and Allura up and saw the scorch marks from Hunk’s bayard, but no Hunk and no creature he’d been fighting.

“Fuck.” Keith breathed. He looked down the hall. “Now what?”

“Whatever that thing is, it’s picking us off one by one.” Lance muttered.  
“So, let’s not let it get us alone.” the Cuban looked over, seeing Keith staring at him. “We stick together, no matter what.” he smiled, holding out his hand. “I’ll keep your back, you keep mine.”

Lance smiled, reaching out to take Keith’s hand. “You got it, leader.” the two kept their gaze before turning and began to walk down the hall, determined to find their friends and rescue them.

“God, this is dumb,” Lance said, looking around. Well, tried. “It just keeps getting darker.”  
“I can barely see in front of me.” Keith mumbled, squinting. Neither commented on how the other squeezed their hand tighter.

“Like, it’s _advanced darkness_.” the taller boy snorted, feeling relieved when Keith chuckled quietly beside him.  
“Not your everyday normal darkness.” he quipped back. The two boys laughed softly as they walked, feeling just slightly better.

They both froze, spinning around. “What was that?” Lance asked, his bayard morphing into his gun.  
“I don’t know.” Keith’s sword came out, and the two pressed together, back to back. “Dammit, I can’t see anything.”

Lance fiddled with his helmet, “There has to be a light in these things,” he mumbled, before crying out in surprise. “Found it!” he said, shakily, his heart thudding in his chest.  
“Did you just scare yourself by turning on a light?” Keith asked, his voice sounding far too fond to be annoyed.

“Maybe,” the red paladin pouted. “Check the lower left side of your helmet.”

He looked around, the light managing to break through the dark, but only barely. He heard Keith grumble that he couldn’t find it, before he heard him gasp. “Look out!” Lance felt a hand wrap around his arm and yank him down.

With a soft _pop_, the spot where they were having a bright green laser shoot past. The two turned, and Lance fired off a couple shots. “What the hell was that?!” he asked, squinting to try and see.

“I don’t know, but it’s over there.” Keith braced himself, his grip on his sword tight. Another _pop_ and the two jumped apart, and Keith dashed forward. “Cover me!”

“From what?!” Lance yelled, growling as he raised his rifle. His helmet scanned the area and he was… surprised to see that he could get a faint read on Keith. And another body. “To your right! Swing high!”

Keith swung high and felt his sword get deflected by an object. He kept attacking, catching a faint shape as his sword caught and sparked against something else. It was a brief flash, but whatever he was attacking looked… humanoid.

“Duck!” Keith ducked and felt something barely miss him. He surged forward, attacking the darkness. “Your left!” He spun around, catching an attack with his sword. The two worked, Keith allowing Lance to be his eyes, Lance keeping Keith on track. “Duck!” As Keith dropped to the ground, he heard the _pew_ from Lance’s gun and the laser lit up the dark as it soared through the air, hitting their attacker.

There was a cry and they fell. A cry that had a reverb under it. An underlying _squeak_. Keith raised his hand, quickly fumbling with his helmet before finding the button that Lance mentioned. As Lance got closer, the two looked down to the xetyal that had attacked them.

“Alra?” Lance breathed, the blonde xetyal holding her side where she’d been shot. Keith looked next to her and saw a gun. He quickly kicked it out of the way. “Alra, what’s going on?”

The xetyal looked up to them, curled to protect her injured side. “We’re preparing for the feast.” she said. “We must get the spleef ready.”

“What?” the Cuban boy’s face scrunched up. “What does that have to do with attacking us?” He looked over to Keith, but saw a look of horror on the black paladin’s face.

“Lance,” Keith’s voice was just above a whisper, the cold dread filling his voice from their attacker’s words, “I… I think _we’re_ spleef….”  
“But, but you can’t eat people!” Lance half shouted, keeping his gun pointed at the prone alien. “Especially us!!”   
“Oh, sweet, tender Paladins,” Alra cooed, her voice gruff, low, “_anything_ can be eaten.” Her metallic smile stretched across her face, teeth catching the faint light they shone at her, pointed and sharp. “Even if you say no.” Keith and Lance felt a cold chill run down their spines. How many others had these creatures eaten? Had tricked and trapped into becoming their meals? The xetyal laughed, squeaky and sharp as the two raced off. They had to rescue their friends.

The two panted heavily, the hallway seeming to continue to grow darker the farther down they went. They were thankful that they didn’t run into any more xetyals, but were more worried about finding a way out.

“Do you think this way even opens out?” Lance asked, keeping a tight hold on Keith so the two didn’t get separated.  
“It has to.” Keith replied, “How else did Alra get in front of us? She couldn’t have snuck up on us, and there aren’t any other places she could have been.”

Just before Lance could start to doubt him, they saw a faint light in front of them. Their paces picked up as they pushed themselves forward, stumbling through the opening. They looked around, seeing they were just on the outskirts of town, from the opposite side they’d come in from.

Large fire pits were set up and lit, embers dancing up and away into the night sky. And they saw Hunk, Allura and Pidge all squirming, struggling against bindings as they were carried towards the fires by a large group of the xetyals. Hunk saw them first, and cried out to them. “Lance! Keith!”

The aliens turned, black eyes all now on the remaining two paladins. Yashii was among the crowd, standing on a tall platform. She raised her hands, “Paladins of red and blue!” she called out. “We welcome you to our feast!”

“Let them go!” Keith growled out, gripping his bayard tight in his hand. Beside him, Lance readied his rifle, pointing it towards her. “Now!”

Yashii laughed, manic and shrill. “You think two can stop us?” she asked, “We will feast as we have not in many moons!”

“We’re not going to tell you again.” Lance muttered, eyes narrowed as he moved his finger towards the trigger.

Yashii laughed again, “Oh, paladins. You’ve toasted to spleef.” she said, lowering her hands. “By the will and grace of Akgen, we will feast. On them. And you.”

Lance and Keith shared a look, before Keith shifted his footing. “Feast on this.” he growled, before charging forward and towards the rest of his team.

The xetyals around them wailed, surging towards Keith and Lance swung his gun down, taking aim and firing at them. Between him and Keith swinging his sword, they managed to clear a path towards their friends. Keith was aware of a familiar hair style, and saw Julm lunge at him. He ducked, sliding underneath her attack and next to Allura, quickly cutting her free.  
“Take care of the others.” he looked at her, making sure she was okay, before getting back on his feet in time to block the next blow from Julm.

Allura quickly set to work, managing to free Pidge and Hunk before the rest of the xetyals converged. They quickly got their bayards out and began to fight. Hunk looked around, seeing Lance had started to get swarmed, but he was managing to keep most of them at bay by shooting them before they got too close. He heaved his gatling up, and began to fire towards him, helping clear some of the aliens back.

“Everyone, we have to get back to the lions!” Keith grunted, shoving Julm away with a solid kick. She rolled, groaning as she began to get back on her feet. “Now!”

“I’ll help Lance clear a path!” Hunk said, “Everyone follow me!”

As Hunk shot off into the crowd, behind them they heard Yashii screech. “Do not let them escape!”

Keith turned around, pushing back another xetyal, recognising it as the blue haired xetyal from when they first arrived. Behind her, Resha growled, taking a swipe at him. She was quickly grabbed by Allura’s whip and thrown into another alien.

Somewhere, between the howling and the screeching and the cries of their feast, it seemed like the xetyals had become feral. No longer managing to form words. Just loud noises and guttural growls.  
They reached Lance and the group turned, gasping for a quick breath before they quickly raced back into town, the hoard behind them not giving up their chase. Between him and Hunk, they were able to keep a good distance between their group and the xetyals. Keith looked back, seeing the hoard behind them screaming. Even those that had weapons and guns weren’t using them, choosing to chase after them like a mindless swarm. He turned to look ahead, the paladins forcing their legs to keep going.

They breached the town, the xetyals still hot on their trail. Each paladin gave a cry of relief when they saw their lions flying towards them, heads low and maws open. With one last push forward, they entered their lions, managing to escape back up to the castleship.

That night, the group were gathered in the lounge area. Pillows, blankets and mattresses had been dragged from each of their room and crafted into a makeshift nest-type area. Each paladin huddled close together, eating and lightly talking.

Keith was finally the one who broke the unspoken rule. “Are you all okay?” he looked towards Pidge, Allura and Hunk. “I mean, you guys were almost…”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” Pidge mumbled, holding a cup to her mouth. “It sucked.”

“It was scary.” Hunk added on. “I thought I was going to die.”

“I spoke with Coran. He’s updated the files on Corium and the xetyals.” Allura sighed, setting her cup down beside her. “I’m sorry. If I had known I wouldn’t have made us go down there.”

“Allura, it wasn’t your fault.” Lance frowned, looking at her. “None of us knew that they were cannibalistic demons straight from Satan’s nightmares.”

“Besides, we all agreed to your suggestion.” Keith added. “We agreed as a team.”

Allura blinked, smiling softly. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Let’s all just… get some rest.” Lance said, yawning far too loudly to be real. “We’ve had a rough day.” Pidge snorted.

“Understatement of the fucking century.” she grinned. The group carefully moved, tucking themselves into their blankets, each paladin keeping close to another. A foot grazed a leg. A hand touched an elbow. Knees knocked against another set of knees.

One by one the group of friends drifted off to sleep. Safe and comforted by one another.

Keith and Lance faced each other, an arms length apart. Keith looked into Lance’s eyes. Neither said a word, but when Keith made a slow, hesitant movement, Lance reached forward, linking his fingers between Keith’s. They held on tight, grounding each other.

They were okay. They were all okay.

They fell asleep, never once letting the other go.


End file.
